I have recently discovered that I have OCPD. I also have TMJ - is there a possibility that the two are interconnected? My TMJ symptoms seem to come and go, but when I have them, they're debilitating.

Additional Info: I also have adult ADHD (I was diagnosed with it at 21, and have been on Vyvanse for about 3 years now). I have issues with staying asleep, which I attribute to the pain flare-ups from TMJ and which my doctor says is aggravated by the ADHD meds.

I don't necessarily disagree with you. The DSM scientific committee is always aware of the risk of stigmatization and of the accusation that psychiatry thinks everyone is disordered. It struggles to find a balance between giving everyone a diagnosis and ignoring serious problems that can occur.
I think that "losing track of the purpose" is not that uncommon. The challenge is trying to distinguish between transiently losing sight of the goals in the midst of a frenzy of activity and the recurrent experience of that.

From a lay perspective I expect the connection between the two could be stress and anxiety related. Perhaps relaxation exercises would be helpful?

Have you spoken to your dentist about the TMJ? The expert on the dental health expert forum here is very good and he has had a previous interest in psychology. It could be worth posting there as well.

When we feel vulnerable we also tend to percieve pain as being more intense. That doesn't really help when we already feel stressed and tense.

I'm not sure which way I would address this. I think that therapy would help with the ocpd which may in turn relieve the tmj. I would probably opt to see a dentist anyway. If sleep isn't improved by treatment of the tmj and ocpd then I would be taling to a doctor about sleep related issues. ?Dr Steven Parks has written some good blogs about sleep and also nose/ throat connections. Not sure if they would be useful or not.

It's hardly a "dumb" question, because I didn't even know it existed until I stumbled across it completely inadvertently a few weeks ago.

OCPD = Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder. It's related to OCD, but differs in some significant ways. People who have OCD have compulsions to do ritual behaviors to ward off anxiety regarding possible harm; they know that these compulsions are not "normal" behavior, and are usually helpless to stop them. People with OCPD are defined by their attention to rules, control, and orderliness. They have extremely strict standards, and are generally unaware that their behavior is a problem - they see everyone else as having the problem, because everyone else does things incorrectly. There's a really good article about the difference between the two by Dr. Steven Phillipson ( http://www.ocdonline.com/articlephillipson6.php ) - it helped me when I was first searching for information.

According to the DSM IV, OCPD is: "A pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control, at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following:
1) is preoccupied with details, rules, lists, order, organization, or schedules to the extent that the major point of the activity is lost.
2) shows perfectionism that interferes with task completion (e.g., is unable to complete a project because his or her own overly strict standards are not met)
3) is excessively devoted to work and productivity to the exclusion of leisure activities and friendships (not accounted for by obvious economic necessity)
4) is overconscientious, scrupulous, and inflexible about matters of morality, ethics, or values (not accounted for by cultural or religious identification)
5) is unable to discard worn-out or worthless objects even when they have no sentimental value
6) is reluctant to delegate tasks or to work with others unless they submit to exactly his or her way of doing things
7) adopts a miserly spending style toward both self and others; money is viewed as something to be hoarded for future catastrophes
8) shows rigidity and stubbornness"

In my life, I find that all of the above symptoms except for number 7 are present. When I was an undergraduate student, I found it nearly impossible to complete any assignments on time, because I wanted every single line of every single paper to be perfect. If I hadn't had professors who were very flexible with time deadlines, I likely wouldn't have been able to graduate from my program.

At work, I tend to eat my lunch at my desk and work through it; I come early and stay late.

I am unable to work in groups unless I am delegating tasks and controlling the order in which things are completed.

With regard to the 4th characteristic - I am a very political person, and have difficulty allowing even a casual mention of politics or world events in any conversation without making it into a much larger discussion. I also have difficulty accepting opposing political viewpoints even if there are legitimate arguments underlying those points.

There is much more, but since this post is already approaching manuscript length, I will stop for now. :)

Thanks for the clarification. I thought that was probably what you meant but wasn't sure.

OCPD is an interesting diagnosis. In the next revision it will likely disappear. This is because so many of the features of the diagnosis appear to be common in people who are very successful in work and pretty successful in life.

I don't think that there is likely to be a huge relationship between OCPD and TMJ except, as Jaquta says, that OCPD can cause stress which may exacerbate your TMJ.

I do think that the Vyvanse is likely to worsen your TMJ.

So this is a tricky situation.

One treatment that is likely to help your TMJ, your OCPD and your ADHD is some form of meditation. You might check out this website for information about a biofeedback device that many folks I work with have found useful -

That's interesting and from my perspective a little disappointing that the diagnosis would be excluded from the next revision. I think that until you've been in a situation where you experience some of those attributes/ symptoms you don't really understand or appreciate how debilitating they are. I expect that successful people would not meet the criteria. Not to the point where the objective was lost. Excluding it, in my opinion, seems like a contradiction of the very diagnosis.

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